1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a hood latch and, more particularly, to a hood latch having a helix spring which operates as a torsion spring in relation to the detent lever and as a torsion spring and leaf spring in relation to a fork bolt lever.
2. Description of the Relevant Art
It is known to have a hood latch assembly which includes a primary latch that is released by a handle located in the interior of a vehicle. The primary latch has a fork bolt lever which receives the striker and a detent lever to hold the fork bolt lever in a latched position. A spring biases the fork bolt lever to the unlatched position to ensure the fork bolt lever rotates to an unlatched position to release the striker when not retained by the detent lever. The detent lever has a separate spring to bias the detent lever to an engaged position holding the fork bolt lever in the latched position.
It is also known to have a primary latch which has a single spring to return both levers. The spring has a leg which acts in torsion to biases the detent lever to the engaged position. The interaction of components of the detent lever and the fork bolt lever and the relative position of the center of gravity and the pivot point of the fork bolt lever cause the fork bolt lever to rotate to the unlatched position when not retained by the detent lever in the engaged position. The desire to reduce the size and mass of the primary latch resulted in reduction of both in the fork bolt lever. This reduction in size and mass of the fork bolt lever moves the position of the center of gravity relative to the pivot point on the fork bolt lever causing the bolt to rotate to a latched position.
It would be desirable to provide a primary hood latch with a single spring which acts as a combined torsion and leaf spring for a fork bolt lever and a torsion spring for the detent lever.